Stay tuned if you are interested in a PhD on the interface of optics, photonics, and bio-based materials!

Max Planck Institute of Colloids & Interfaces (MPICI)@mpici.bsky.social · 4w ago

We are excited to announce that the next generation of sustainable materials will be inspired by nature: Our new #IMPRS for Functional Material Design will welcome 23 fully funded doctoral candidates starting in winter 2026/27. @maxplanck.de More information ➡️ www.mpikg.mpg.de/new-impres-f...

After months of organising, our @mpici.bsky.social PhD/PostDoc Symposium is in full swing! Great to see everyone enjoy the sun and the science ☀️🧪

In our latest collaboration of @vignolinilab.bsky.social and @bruno-jesus.bsky.social, we looked at how the geometrical arrangement of guanine nanostructures leads to the beautiful appearance of sea slugs. Check it out for more details and gorgeous images! 💡🧪

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft@maxplanck.de · 5mo ago

Gauguin? Matisse? Miró? Well, actually, it’s… sea slug!😊🐌🌊 A team at @ Max Planck Institute of Colloids & Interfaces discovered that #nudibranchs - called “the #butterflies of the #sea” - produce their vibrant glow through structural colouration, arranged in pixel-like patterns @mpici.bsky.social

Check out our latest paper on sea slug coloration in PNAS ! I'm extremely grateful to Samuel Humphrey and @vignolinilab.bsky.social for this collaboration. I've learned so much and had so much fun working with you, thank you! @univ-nantes.fr @mpici.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

www.linkedin.com/posts/michae...

It is a pleasure to announce the next course on Microsensor Analysis in the Environmental Sciences, which will take place at the Marine Biological Station, Rønbjerg, Denmark from May 4 to May 13… | Mi...

It is a pleasure to announce the next course on Microsensor Analysis in the Environmental Sciences, which will take place at the Marine Biological Station, Rønbjerg, Denmark from May 4 to May 13, 2026...

linkedin.com

On this #InternationalWomensDay, today and every day, we celebrate the women solving societal challenges through #optics for a brighter future. Find out how Optica supports #WomenInSTEM: https://bit.ly/4bvbZ3s Pictured: Optica Women Scholars, OFC Nagel Lounge, OFC attendees

Excited to be starting my group “Ecophotonics” with a Minerva FastTrack fellowship! Big thanks to @vignolinilab.bsky.social for your support! Also grateful to my PhD supervisor Malte Gather, and collaborators & students from marine biology to physics. 🧪👩🏼‍🔬💡https://www.mpikg.mpg.de/6920542/ecophotonics

“Ecophotonics”:Turning Nature’s Light Management Strategies into Sustainable Technology

mpikg.mpg.de

Slotted lens tubes are definitely the most satisfying little item I have recently gotten from @thorlabs.bsky.social 😏 useful for science but I can already see some cool scientific outreach / teaching… in that sense, happy international day of women & girls in science 🧪👩🏼‍🔬

PhDs & PostDocs at MPICI: get to your keyboards & register for the MPICI #Symposium to get a glimpse into what everyone’s up to in the labs. ➡️ Register by 15 Feb. events.mpikg.mpg.de/event/21 ⬅️ 🗓️ 15 April FLASH TALKS | PITCH YOUR RESEARCH | POSTER SESSION | NETWORKING

Job 1: Postdoc in Bioimaging 🖥️🔬 We are looking for a method developer at the interface of Bioimaging, microscopy, deep learning, and image analysis. Ideally, you love Biological images, Python 🐍, open-source software, and "smart" microscopy. Apply here: abo.rekrytointi.com/paikat/index...

Researcher (postdoctoral level) in Bioimaging, 1.4.2026–31.08.2028

abo.rekrytointi.com

My phone camera is very bad so these are quite representative of the #northernlights I saw with my naked eye tonight in #potsdam

🚨 PhD Position Available 🚨 I’m recruiting a PhD student to join my lab at the Multiscale Imaging Centre (MIC), Münster, Germany. www.bischofflab.com/jobs Fully funded ✅ #Cellbio #Morphogenesis #Microscopy #Drosophila #PhD (Details Below) Original Posting: stellen.uni-muenster.de/jobposting/d...

First time grandpa gets a self-made xmas present since probably 2010… it’s my favourite photo from the lab in 2025, and led to a nice conversation with a 92yr old about structural color and market transfer of sustainable materials 🎄🎁👩🏼‍🔬🧪

Time for one of my favourite festive recycling traditions of wrapping gifts in curated newspaper cutouts! This year featuring @zeit.de and some locations on the travel bucket list 😊🎁

We're a bit late in ringing in the giving season, but it is indeed upon us. Enjoy our special edition holiday logo ☃️ and, if you can spare a bit and appreciate napari, please donate to our development efforts! 🙏 CZI will match donations up to $75K. opencollective.com/napari/donate

If you are a postdoc or postgraduate student at @mpici.bsky.social, mark 15.04.26 in your calendars for the 2nd edition of our institute symposium! Registration will open in January, we are super excited already 😊

Laura Zorzetto@laurazorzetto.bsky.social · 8mo ago

April is still far, but gears are already turning to organize the 2026 Symposium for PhD and Postdocs at @mpici.bsky.social. Stay tuned! #PhDlife #Postdoclife #MPIKG

Busy week for me! Amsterdam Marathon Today after a day in Utrecht yesterday, #NANOP25 conference in Paris tomorrow! 😊 if you are there, let’s catch up! I promise I will change from rambling about marathon running to rambling about science!

Calm before the storm of welcoming around 7000 kids tomorrow to check out beautiful colours of nature under the microscope! #potsdamScienceDay

People from Berlin & Brandenburg: come to our family-friendly science day on 10. May! See below for more info (and for a video of my hand fooling around with some fun ~hands on~ experiments) 😄

Max Planck Institute of Colloids & Interfaces (MPICI)@mpici.bsky.social · last yr.

📅 Am 10. Mai kannst du übers Wasser rennen und springen – aber nur, wenn du schnell genug bist! Mit der richtigen Menge Maisstärke wird Wasser plötzlich fest. Was steckt dahinter? Eine sogenannte #nichtNewtonsche Flüssigkeit: Unter Krafteinwirkung verändert sich ihre Viskosität. 👉 www.ptdw.de

I have followed the #RoyalSociety #Musk fellowship case over the last months, which culminated in this disappointment: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/25/royal-society-decides-not-to-take-disciplinary-action-against-elon-musk As a consequence […] [Original post on datasci.social]

Help Microscope folks: On a new Nikon TIRF objective, the collar got stuck in the position shown. Anyone else had that happen? Any way to unstuck it (warm up, other)?

Happy International Women's Day! We're celebrating a day early by sharing some of the amazing work of the women within our community we've covered so far in 2025. www.laserfocusworld.com/science-rese... #women #optics #photonics #quantum #scisky @jmurphoton.bsky.social

Celebrating women in optics, photonics, and quantum

To celebrate International Women's Day on March 8th, check out some of the cool optics, photonics, and quantum work being done by women.

laserfocusworld.com

Hi photonics hive mind, who can recommend an open source python FDTD solver that runs on anaconda (windows)? 👩🏼‍🔬🧪💡

🧬🔬New paper online: Nucleic acid sensing using DNA-functionalized whispering gallery mode microlasers! Great collaboration with @thegatherlab.bsky.social @sorayacaixeiro @schubertlab.bsky.social @chemunicologne.bsky.social 🧪 #DNASensing #microlasers pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

DNA Sensing with Whispering Gallery Mode Microlasers

Nucleic acid sensing is crucial for advancing diagnostics, therapeutic monitoring, and molecular biology research by enabling the precise identification of DNA and RNA interactions. Here, we present an innovative sensing platform based on DNA-functionalized whispering gallery mode (WGM) microlasers. By correlating spectral shifts in laser emission to changes in the refractive index, we demonstrate real-time detection of DNA hybridization and structural changes. The addition of gold nanoparticles to the DNA strands significantly enhances sensitivity, and exclusively labeling the sensing strand or a hairpin strand eliminates the need for secondary labeling of the target strand. We further show that ionic strength influences DNA compactness, and we introduce a hairpin-based system as a dual-purpose sensor and controlled release mechanism for drug delivery. This versatile WGM-based platform offers promise for sequence-specific nucleic acid sensing, multiplexed detection, and in vivo applications in diagnostics and cellular research.

pubs.acs.org

First time today being a sidekick in a scientific stock photo shoot! (the PI talks excitedly to postdocs while standing next to a microscope type of shots). Now I regret not brushing my hair this morning… 👩🏼‍🔬

Intl. Day of #WomenInScience: meet @veratitze.bsky.social ( @vignolinilab.bsky.social sky.social ) She builds microscopes to study light adaptation & management in nature & draws inspiration for the design of #sustainable materials for #nanophotonic applications ➡️ tinyurl.com/xhfxrkxn #WomenInSTEM

Can’t believe I’m typing this but… FUCK IT IM PLANNING A STAND UP FOR SCIENCE PROTEST IN DC. If you want to be involved, be dm me. I’m nervous, I’ve never done this before, but we gotta be the change we want to see in the world.

Colette Delawalla, PhD@cdelawalla.bsky.social · last yr.

IF YOU KNOW IF ANYONE PLANNING A SCIENCE RELATED PROTEST IN DC, PLEASE DM ME!

Exciting PhD position available in my group on "Infrared nanocrystal LEDs for biomedical sensing". The position is part of a research training group, which provides high-class, interdisciplinary training and lots of opportunities for collaboration.👇 lnkd.in/ebfkccMS Apply before February 14th.

National Science Foundation suspends salary payments, leaving researchers unable to pay their bills www.statnews.com/2025/01/30/t... Story by @ericboodman.bsky.social

National Science Foundation suspends salary payments, leaving researchers unable to pay their bills

An NSF online payment system remained down after the federal funding freeze was lifted, leaving early-career scientists scrambling to pay bills

statnews.com

Any undergraduate students interested in optics, bio-inspired materials, biopolymers: check out this opportunity in our department at the @mpici.bsky.social 🧪💡

@vignolinilab.bsky.social · 2y ago

Join us in the summer!